Fire kills man in ‘brownout’ area

/ Kate Smithyman

Firefighters allowed smoke to escape after cutting venting holes through the roof of a burning apartment building in Golden Hill yesterday. Some criticism emerged over whether the response was hampered by budget cuts.

Firefighters allowed smoke to escape after cutting venting holes through the roof of a burning apartment building in Golden Hill yesterday. Some criticism emerged over whether the response was hampered by budget cuts. (/ Kate Smithyman)

San Diego fire fighters responded to a fire at a 4th floor apartment shortly after 8 a.m. on Friday, March 19, 2010 at 22nd and Broadway. Though the fire was knocked down, there was a fatality. — Nelvin C. Cepeda / Union-Tribune Paige Nordeen and her pet cat, Baba, were one of the last to evacuate when fire broke out in an apartment building on Broadway and 22nd Street in Golden Hill. — Nelvin C. Cepeda / Union-Tribune

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A cost-cutting plan that idles fire equipment in San Diego did not contribute to the death of an elderly man found inside a burning Golden Hill apartment Friday, fire officials say, but the man’s granddaughter and firefighters union officials are not convinced.

The death is the first in a San Diego fire since the city began taking fire engines out of service last month to save money. The fire caused $900,000 in damage to the 24-unit, four-story building on the northeast corner of 22nd Street and Broadway.

The man who was killed, Sam Taylor, was a longtime tenant, said Beth LeFriant, one of the building’s co-owners.

When the 911 call came in shortly after 8 a.m. Friday, the first engine to respond came from Barrio Logan, which is about two miles away, instead of the Golden Hill station just three blocks up the hill. The engine in Golden Hill was one of eight out of service.

The death prompted the leader of the city firefighters union to call on city officials to rescind the “brownout” plan, which idles up to eight fire engines a day to cut overtime costs.

Some fire equipment arrived within five minutes of the emergency call, said Maurice Luque, spokesman for the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department. National standards recommend that firefighters respond to 90 percent of emergency calls within that time.

Luque said taking equipment out of service was not a factor in the death.

“In this particular case, there is no evidence that shows the brownout was responsible for the death of this man,” Luque said.

Firefighters contained the blaze to the one unit. All of the apartments had some smoke and water damage and the Red Cross planned to find temporary housing for 48 residents, one-third of whom own cats, Luque said.

No one else was injured.

Investigators determined that the fire was accidental and started when a space heater ignited a couch or other combustibles in a front room or when electrical cords malfunctioned.

Taylor’s granddaughter, Angela Brown, 29, said she shared the one-bedroom apartment with her grandfather, whom she said was born in 1926, and that he had lived there since before she was born.

She said she was angry about his death.

“If they had gotten here faster, they could have saved him,” she said.

Of the brownouts, she said, “They need to get more workers and stop doing budget cuts.”

The first firefighters at the building arrived in a fire truck one minute after being dispatched, but an operator who had not used a particular ladder on that truck failed to perform one of the steps needed to get it to work, Luque said. A second ladder truck arrived four minutes later.

The first engine came from the Barrio Logan station four minutes and 26 seconds after it was dispatched. Dispatching occurs immediately after emergency calls are made.

Fire trucks carry ladders and other equipment important for rescues. Fire engines are equipped with hoses and pumping equipment to battle flames.

Two more engines and one fire truck responded within five minutes of being dispatched, while a fourth one arrived in six minutes and a fifth arrived in eight minutes.

Under the rolling-brownout plan, several fire engines in the city are idled each day and firefighters from those engines work in place of firefighters who are on vacation, taking sick leave or in training. The plan is expected to save the city $11.5 million annually by cutting overtime costs.

A city report issued this month said that response times are longer at seven of the eight stations where engines were idled in the first 23 days of the plan. In San Diego, crews are responding within five minutes a little more than half the time, according to the report.

Brown, clutching several photos with charred edges that she had retrieved, was at a friend’s house when the fire began. She said Taylor was long retired from General Dynamics, and that he was in good physical shape, often walking the four flights of steps to his apartment, which was in a back corner of the top floor.

“He might have been in his 80s, but he could do more than a 20-year-old,” Brown said.

Councilman Ben Hueso, whose district includes Golden Hill, toured the building yesterday afternoon and said he was glad the response was as quick as it was.

“The response was very fast to this fire,” Hueso said. “We are pleased our firefighters were on scene immediately after they were called.”

Building co-owner LeFriant was pleased both with the response of Hueso’s office and of firefighters.

“I can tell you that the fire department was splendid,” LeFriant said. “They must have had 60 firefighters at this building. They were all professional and very caring. I cannot praise them enough for their courage and dedication.”

LeFriant said the building does not have sprinklers but does have fire alarms.

LeFriant said Taylor was loved by everyone in the building, and that he would tell stories from years ago, including about when they would have parties on the building’s roof. He even recalled a fire on the roof long ago, she said.

“He was just the sweetest; just a gentle man,” LeFriant said. “He never had a bad word to say, and he always had a smile on his face. Everyone knew and loved Sam.”

Frank De Clercq, president of San Diego City Fire Fighters Local 145, said the brownout delays make a difference in public safety and that the practice should be rescinded.

“These engine companies all need to get opened, and these brownouts need to stop. They need to stop now,” said De Clercq, who also is a San Diego fire captain. “The citizens need to get out here and make this a priority. This is a core service to provide public safety to the citizens. This just makes me sick.”

De Clercq said firefighters will want to know whether the delay affected the outcome.

“I can tell you this is a matter of life and death. This is the first of many incidents that are going to happen,” he said. “We can’t continue to play this down and speculate as to whether or not this man might have been alive or been able to be rescued or not. No one is going to know, but we want to find out.”

Hueso said city leaders reluctantly imposed the brownout policy because of severe budget constraints.